Steve Feltham, who will from this moment on be known as the human embodiment of bitter disappointment, has finally given up looking for the Loch Ness Monster after 24 years. It is probably, he concluded, a very large Wels catfish, which can grow up to 13 feet long.

Some might argue that everything that passes for "paranormal" is a hoax. (There's no fun in that, but insist if you must.) But even the biggest unexplained-phenomenon junkies have to admit when a fraud's a fraud ... as the 10 cases below will attest.